MakeupAddiction Rules

No photo editing of any kind. This includes beauty filters, selfie modes, sharpening, contrast alteration, and all but the most minor color correction. Watermarking is ok.
Read our photo guidelines before you post!

"No Makeup Makeup" looks or other looks where the makeup is too subtle to see easily must have a before and after shot so users can see the difference the makeup makes.

Photo Quality and Composition: All photos must showcase the makeup clearly and be properly cropped. Images where the makeup cannot be seen well or the quality is too low for constructive criticism will be removed. "Selfie Angles" are strongly discouraged.

Product Lists. All makeup looks and collections must include a detailed product list which includes every product used in the visible area, including even invisible products like primer and setting sprays. Product lists must include shade names if they exist. Request exemption if needed.

No self-promotion of Youtube/social media/blogs/your business; limited linking in comments is acceptable. No referral links, surveys, giveaways, or seeking to buy or sell!

Remove products from packaging and open the product itself before posting. All Haul posts must include swatches and/ or a mini review of at least 3 products.

Image Sources. You may post images that are not yours for inspiration purposes, but they must follow the rest of the rules about photos and you must provide the source and clearly mark that you are not the creator.

Moderators reserve the right to make decisions deemed to be in the best interest of the subreddit. Moderators have the final say.

Same here. Every time I think I'm going to do "natural" makeup I end up with black eyeshadow or hot pink lipstick or something. When I do things where I actually want to stay neutral like go to to work, I think I skimp too much because I don't wake up early enough to put in much effort.

I'm not great at it either, but my best attempt was with eyeliner on just my upper waterline, a little mascara, eyeshadow that matched my skin tone, a little foundation, and balm stain that almost exactly matches my natural color.

omg, same with me! I usually don't wear makeup to work, and one day I just decided to put on a little liner and mascara and everyone was all "where are you going?!"... guess I need to up my game at work :P

I've worn lipstick once to work. Just once. And I'll never, ever do it again. Every single comment was like "Jake, what the fuck are you doing?". I'm fairly pale and the shade of red I wore didn't really match my skin tone but I never expected such blatant hostility to such a small thing.

That's funny you mentioned Mad Men; for some reason, this post made me think of just this last season, when Peggy came into work after a rough night (no spoilers, in case you haven't gotten there), and she's a little unkempt, with no apparent makeup, and it's just odd to see, after she'd been so styled and put-together since her promotion(s). Especially considering she started the show and her career seemingly without much care for that, and she doesn't otherwise seem like someone as made up as Joan or like Megan was, in the office. It was just an unexpected look at how far she'd come, and it really made her look young and vulnerable.

I don't wear liner, but I had this kind of awkward transition when I started using BB cream rather than going to work (at a call center) bare-faced. It was really awkward and actively discouraged me from wearing much more.

I don't have that problem with my current job, since I started off wearing light makeup (BB cream, undereye concealer and a gentle white eyeshadow are my basics.)

lol, I work at a place where it's just me and four guys and they never comment on my makeup. The only times they comment on my appearance it goes like this "Is your hair more red than it was yesterday? How is that possible?" Lol

So this popped up on the frontpage of r/all, so I am new to this sub, and forgive my apparent ignorance on this, but are y'all exaggerating the "are you sick?" question at all? Do people really ask that? Now the lighting is substantially different in pic 1 relative to the other 3, but I can't imagine those comments are warranted.

Do I really live in a bubble where neither I nor anyone else I've witnessed said something like that to a woman? Why is this a thing?

It definitely happens, and it can be really frustrating (not to mention a blow to your self esteem!). People ask me if I didn't sleep, if I'm feeling okay, if I'm sad and want to talk about something. I've definitely utilized it for nefarious purposes, though, purposefully putting on no makeup when I want to appear tired or sick and beg off school or work for various reasons.

The exact opposite of this happened for me today. My mother was shuttling me to post-surgical check up appointment to discuss my complications with the surgeon and get a treatment plan in order. As being in an out of the hospital will do, I've been feeling low and really aware of how shitty and unhealthy I look. So to give myself a boost, I did my hair (curl girly method FTW!) and put on a full face to hide the shadows and bags, discoloration and problem areas from medications, etc.

My mom picks me up and says, "Well, why on earth would you put on makeup? He isn't going to take you seriously because you're all peachy and fresh faced. He needs to see how greay and sallow you are, those bags under your eyes." I hadn't thought about that aspect, and sure enough, as soon as I get to the office, the Nurse Practitioner AND the surgeon both commented on how I wasn't looking any worse for the wear. It kept coming up: "Well, you look really good, your color is back, your eyes are bright." Won't make that mistake again.

TL,DR: Put on makeup, surgeon and staff disregarded me because I looked much better than I did four days ago, didn't take me seriously.

I've struggled with insomnia for five years now and no doctor has ever taken me seriously because "I look okay". I'm finally doin my treatment now, but the first time I met my therapist I started our conversation with "Just so you know, makeup is my best friend".

Not doctors but I had a lot of older patients at the hospital tell me the same thing. I was in there for 9 days and some of those days I wanted to at least look nice. If I had neighbors come in to visit many of them said "well you look too good to be here!" I'm sure my age helped as well, but I honestly looked like a corpse. Very dark around the eyes, very grey on the rest of my face, no color in my lips and even my hair had gone limp from a lack of vitamins. So I sort of know how you feel! But at least my doctor didn't say anything, he just focused on my physical symptoms.

I imagine 'are you okay' is the predominant one that people might throw out occassionally. I think it's just that over time you trained them to think they knew how you looked healthy as a base line. When you no longer have an even glow or whatever they notice the difference and they casually throw out a question out of concern. I can see how it wouldn't make you feel very good, but I don't think it's all that surprising that it happens since they have no idea what you look like as a baseline other than what they see every day.

If anything it should be a compliment to you successfully selling your look. I could be way off base as I am a man, but that's how I look at it. I have no experience with makeup on any level and just wandered across a post mentioning this sub the other day. I thought it might be cool to see girls geek out over something like I myself have done with products in the past (more like gadgets, electronics, media, games, knives, camping, survival gear, and books, etc).

Yes, I think that's probably the most likely explanation but it's still no fun-- even if it's not what people intend, it ends up feeling like people are telling you that your natural face is worse looking than they expected it to be. Which is definitely not what you want to happen, especially when you keep hearing how nice people think girls look without makeup!

It's really nice to see people wander in from other places who approach makeup like you are, rather than coming over to lecture about the superiority of natural looks, white knighting, etc. So welcome, and enjoy your stay! I love this sub, it's nearly always a really positive, informative place to hang out.

As someone studying to be a nurse, this INFURIATES me. Please women/men, if you're going for a check up, please remove your make up. I love make up just as much as everyone on this subreddit, but the doctor needs to see everything. I once knew a girl who had to be hospitalized for severe anemia. The doctor couldn't see how palor she was underneathe all of the bronzor she was wearing.

Another /r/all plebeian here, but since we're in /r/makeupaddiction, could it be because people are used to you guys wearing makeup 99% of the time, so something really just looks different when you don't wear it?

Yep, it's definitely a possibility, but it doesn't do much to ease the sting of it. And it's hard to reconcile people telling you that you'd look better without makeup with people telling you you look ill when you don't wear it-- makes you feel like you can't win, you know?

I went through a period of wearing no makeup due to some mild skin irritation. During this time I got a new boss at work. As soon as she started at the company, at least 3 times a week she would say some variation of: "Are you getting sick?" "Are you ok?" "You look tired!" "Is the job stressing you out?" I would always replay that I'm fine. I'm not tired. I'm not stressed. It's ok.

After MONTHS, I finally said, "I'm fine, this is just my face. I don't wear makeup." I think I completely embarrassed her and she stopped mentioning my face after that.

It definitely is a factor that people are used to you looking a certain way the majority of the time, but what is frequently noticed is that in general, people assume that "no makeup makeup" (e.g. natural looking makeup) is actually a bare face. As noted in this post, when the OP wears no makeup makeup, people say she looks great without makeup. The fact is often many products and a good deal of time go into no makeup makeup, and people at large seem to have unrealistic expectations of what natural skin/eyes etc. look like.

It is. I rarely wear makeup to work - maybe mascara, but as that's the baseline nobody ever says, "Do you feel sick?" I just don't get any comments. Then, when I wear makeup I get, "Wow, you look so nice with makeup on!"

I normally just wear black liquid eyeliner and a semi-bright lip color. One day I decided I was going to tone it down a little so I used a lighter color green gel pencil, and a light pink lip color. First person I saw that day: "Wow, your face looks really dull today." ಠ_ಠ

I went makeup free today, which is incredibly, incredibly rare for me. I work in a hotel, and I had the same guests who'd seen me for multiple nights in a row, and a I had four of them bemoan the fact that I had to come to work sick. My hair was well done, I was smiling, nothing about my demeanor or behavior had changed since I saw them not twelve hours previously, but simply because I hadn't evened out my skin tone, subtly defined my eyes, and left my lips natural color, I was "sick."

I'm not really offended. I played along with all. People merely relate "natural makeup" with natural, and "no makeup" with undone. When it becomes frustrating is when someone, either in real life or on this site or in tabloids, takes it from, "You look ill" to "I can't stand women who lie with their faces." That's when it is insulting. When you're told how much better you are with makeup, how certain people think it is flattering to imply that you are superior to other women because you fit a certain ideal. I see men with bags under their eyes, blotchy skin, spots, haywire eyebrows, and they don't get asked if they are sick. On the other hand, my woman's face, undone, maybe a bit uneven, very light circles under my eyes (I got plenty of sleep, by the way), indicates a deficit in health.

And if people cannot understand why that is extremely unhealthy in how women are viewed, I really cannot help them see why.

I totally have to agree with the 'no makeup' as undone. I'm someone who typically doesn't wear all that much makeup and I know that in some interviews I did earlier, that probably unfairly counted against me - partly because I've got acne and am 23 years old.

Sometimes I really can have fun putting on makeup, but it's no fun when it's required!

All the time. Quite a few years ago I used this to my advantage. I had pulled a sickie from work to do something much more fun. The next day I purposely went to work without any makeup on and so many people commented "oh dear! You still look so sick, you poor thing!" It was so convincing that my boos said I should go home and get more rest.

To be fair, I'm a girl that never leaves the house without anything less than a full face of "natural" makeup.

It's this kind of comment where people think they're being kind/concerned, so it actually isn't as infrequent as you might think. People think they're being nice and helpful (maybe you should go to the doctor! aren't I an attentive and observant friend!) rather than tactless.

It also is indicative of how a woman's appearance is often considered fair game for all kinds of commentary, both negative and positive. Even when they are ostensibly kindly-meant concerns or compliments (what's up, street harassment!) it just gets fucking exhausting to be constantly reminded that our bodies are up for public judgement.

When I don't have time for eye makeup, I get "are you sick?" or "rough night?" (again, in a winky, 'aren't we buddies' kind of way) every time.

It's a thing because makeup essentially mimics indicators of health. It makes people look healthier and when they get used to seeing you look a certain way and you suddenly don't look that way, you'll be appear less healthy.

As a girl, yes. I had a prof last year who I loved and who loved me, but about three times during the 8 months I showed up to my class without makeup, and each time she told me she was "worried about me" because I "looked like six miles of rough road." Now, she was genuinely worried, but every time I had to try to explain that no, this was just how I looked without makeup (very pale, washed out, kinda red).

I once used it as an excuse, told her I hadn't been feeling well and thus had missed an assignment (in reality, I had just forgotten). Without missing a beat, she responded that she thought I had looked in pretty bad shape the day before (no makeup) and not to worry about it. I was kinda shocked, but didn't correct her that time.

Anyway, that's just one example. It happens a lot. Usually, people are just genuinely worried, especially when you're as naturally pale as I am. So I never take it meanly. But it is kind of insulting, in the "wow, do I really look that bad naturally?" sort of way :( it is almost like a "when's the baby due?" comment, if that makes sense :P all mistaken assumptions.

I learned to use makeup in high school. Eyeliner and mascara only, but any day that I didn't have time or just didn't feel like wearing makeup I would get asked if I was sick by at least one person, mostly by either friends or teachers.

I have had it happen to me multiple times and I have done it to other women multiple times. When I have done it to other women I never realize I fucked up until later. I'm like, "Shit, she just was wearing no makeup and I'm not used to seeing her like that". I always asked out of concern, not to make the woman in question feel like shit for not wearing makeup.

Now when co-workers or friends did it to me, it didn't bother me too much. But it's interesting now that I think about it, when my female friends/coworkers asked if I was sick sans makeup I felt like they were truly concerned, but when the males did it I felt like they were judging my appearance.

But yeah, no exaggeration. I think both men and women are both guilty of asking the, "Are you sick?" when the person in question doesn't have their usual makeup on.

From what I've heard it happens to a lot of people who regularly wear "natural" appearing makeup. Jon Stewart says it happens to him whenever he runs into fans on the street. (Not that it isn't more of a problem with women-- the baseline for women's skin is much more flawless-seeming than it is for men's since more women wear makeup. But I think this happens to a lot of actors and actresses.)

I have the Hispanic dark circles around my eyes. Actual strangers feel it's totally alright to tell me I look "extremely tired", and people will regularly express concern for my health or tell me not to stay up so late.

I actually wear makeup just because I get so bored with explaining the concept of olive skin to randoms.

It's not an exaggeration I've been asked by multiple people, including complete strangers, not only if I'm sick but if I have cancer!
I get it I'm pale and I have dark under eye circles but wow! Even when I was an outdoor education instructor that required 14+ hour days and hiking all day with up to 60 sixth graders, if my makeup didn't look flawless everyone felt compelled to comment.

OP's experiment is a smaller sample of a real experiment that found the same thing: RESULTS:
Overall, makeup (aggregated across all looks) produced a significant positive main effect on judgments of all outcomes in the presentation and on judgments of attractiveness, competence and likeability."

It's most likely justified by the absence of make-up, but I know a friend that usually combines not wearing make-up with bad wake-ups. I've seen her without make-up a few times on other occasions and she looked totally different from her bad wake-up face.

I'm guessing that the whole "Oh shit, I woke up far too late, now I have to rush to work/class and I don't have time to do some make-up" could partially explain people's comments, at least in some cases.

This is fascinating! It's always weird how people react to women with "no-makeup" versus "no makeup-makeup." I couldn't wear any eye makeup for a few days due to allergies, and a couple of my students commented on how much better I looked with "no makeup" (even though I still had on all my usual makeup minus eyeliner and shadow).

As a woman who isn't the greatest at makeup, and the everyday look is literally Bare Minerals as spot-concealer, thin brown line of lower-lid eyeliner and mascara, it's funny how little people notice when I'm not wearing it. Literally, no one knows or cares. They're used to seeing me without it.

But when I actually put on eyeshadow? "Whoa, fancy!" This is also when strange men hit on me and stalk me across campus. No but seriously it happened once. I'm like, "dude, I am not that pretty, chill."

OP's makeup looks are awesome, though. If I only knew how to pull off that last one - the third one is about the upper limit of my know-how, and that's only because the eyeshadow container tells me what to do. Whoops?

I really like the full face but my CC for it would be to skip the lower water line liner or swap it for a white/nude liner.

As for the experiment. I actually don't get a lot of comments on my makeup except from close friends who also like makeup. I've actually had a couple boys comment they actually loved my bright lipsticks!

Some of the comments I have received have been along the lines of, "I wish I had skin like yours." But I was wearing foundation! My skin isn't bad but it isn't foundation levels of perfect.

It's only because people are not accustomed to you looking like that. If you normally cover/alter certain areas, the make-up causes you to look more "bright eyed and bushy tailed" than you would naturally at the same energy level. It's the deviation from the norm that gets their attention.

I'd say the resolution is similar in the one with zero makeup and the one with tons of it. The other two are better quality photos, and lighting is the same in the first two, different in the second two.

This is an exceptionally pretty girl, and this is what pretty women actually look like without covering up their faces.

OK. Picture 1 - I'm wearing: on the face - concealer, BB cream, highlighter, a little blush and some powder, on my eyes I've tightlined the upper waterline, stuck some white eyeliner on the lower waterline, curled my lashes and whacked on a bit of mascara, and then on the lips just a little lip balm. Also a bit of powder in my brows.

Picture 2 - Again, BB cream, concealer, powder, blush (a bit more this time), highlighter and a little bronzer. On the eyes - eye primer, a couple of different eyeshadows, mascara, pencil eyeliner (black on upper waterline, white on lower), powder in the brows and clear mascara to keep them in place, a sheer lip colour on the lips aaand I think that's everything!

The thing that gets me angry is all of the comments on the imgur page that are totally missing the point. Lots of upvoted comments saying "you look best with no makeup." It's like no matter what you do with your face or appearance as a woman, there will always be people telling you that one way or another is definitely the best way and that you should do that way because it pleases me and your face is here for my viewing pleasure, not your own.

I think it would be interesting to do this experiment with a group of people you're meeting for the first time or a relatively new acquaintance. Either start with no makeup and gradually increase, or start with full-face makeup and gradually decrease. I have a few friends who I only ever see at the gym, and it's amazing how nonjudgmental people can be when they don't have your "everyday look" with which to compare your sweaty, after-yoga face. Kudos for your experiment!

Nice tip - will remember this! My stupidest sickday failing was a day when I genuinely felt like crap, spent the whole day lying on the sofa watching movies, but started lazily inserting coloured hair extensions. Lots of stony faces the next day when everyone seemed convinced I'd taken the day off to get my hair done, d'oh...

I get this from my own dad. Every time I go round their house without putting any makeup on, he gets all concerned and lectures me about taking care of myself and not turning in to Lindsay Lohan. It's not my fault his genetics gave me baggy eyes.

Cool! I actually was thinking of doing this experiment the other day especially since I rarely wear makeup (only wore it once this year). I would like to know if I would be treated differently, but I'm still learning about makeup ><

My theory is that people will often say "you look nice today" just to point out they noticed you did something different. Like when my cousin got me to try on this wretched pink lace shirt that was hideous but totally different than anything else I had. Because no one wants to say, "I noticed you did something different. You do not typically wear the eye cream with bright coloring. Are you attempting to attract a mate?" So, to be normative, "You look nice! New eyeshadow?"

In my personal experience, people do treat you differently with visible makeup- but not always for the better. Depends hugely on the type of person. Some people will write you off as vain and self-absorbed if you wear "too much". Others seem to assume you're socially inept if you're barefaced in the wrong context.

Also, I have freakishly blue eyes but only get compliments on them when my BMI is low and I'm wearing loads of makeup.

That's what I thought too. But if "no make-up" look gets your comment about how pretty you look w/o make-up, then how come "everyday make-up" gets you nothing? And then if you cross the boundary to "full-face make-up" then suddenly you're wearing too much make up. It's all quite confusing and ironic... :/

I think it's because the NM-M day I deliberately tried to make it look like I wasn't wearing any make-up, whereas it would be unusual for someone to comment on my appearance with 'everyday make-up' when they see me that way... well, every day!

This so true, I say most of that as a guy. Sometimes I don't know a person well enough and how often she applies her makeup. The amount of times I told a girl that she looked tired at work is making me cringe right now.

Nothing you can do about that now, so there's no point ruminating on it, but at least now you're more aware of yourself and hopefully not do so in the future! It can be a very frustrating thing because it's a reminder of how much you're judged on your appearance, and also can feel a bit like "Wow, your natural face is kind of ugly, isn't it, I didn't realize?"

I'm just a poor guy... but I think part of the reason you look so tired in no make-up is because you're so red around the eyes, lips... I take it you normally wear some sort of foundation.. or is the lighting worse for some reason.

I'm also asian so I'm not sure whether or not being red around the eyes is something that happens to white people... Hell I don't even know what I would do with eye lids...

I guess I never notice it so much in people who aren't super pale like I am (plus, of course, I'm way more conscious about my own skin issues; I don't really walk around thinking "wow, her skin's so uneven!" about other people).

This is cool. I usually do the no to it's-supposed-to-look-like-I'm-not-wearing-makeup makeup pretty much always. Sometimes if I feel really fancy ill do full on makeup and will get reactions ranging from 'omg you look great!' to 'I didn't even recognize you' haha. Makeup is so cool and versatile. Great job :)

You're lips are so amazing! Very full :D. You are fortunate enough to be able to pull off make up or no make up. I don't understand why it is so looked down upon if a woman wants to wear make up or not. My boyfriend is a huge fan of the natural look, however, sometimes I think men do not fully understand what it means to wear ABSOLUTELY no make up. I typically wear some make up just to help me feel more confident and accentuate my features but I also find that in a society that focuses so intensely on appearance that if you wear "too much" make up, you are unnatural...although on the other hand if you wear no make up, people do make negative comments on how someone can look. I feel like it is a lose-lose battle for women. In a conclusion, I suppose it would be appropriate to say "do what makes you happy" however, then we would be surrounded by women and girls who look "too tired". If I want to smother my face in make up, so be it! If I also want to spend my days bare faced, so be it!

As someone who has literally worn no makeup most of the time (and is just now getting into it) seeing these pics make me feel much better about myself. I've always felt like I had terrible skin compared to most other women I see...I'm finally starting to realize that nope, that's most likely just their "no-makeup makeup" on. Which makes me feel like I can look that great too, I just need to practice! : )

"Are you sick?" "You look exhausted."
I have received both of these comments several times if I don't wear make up, and I want to know what the Fuck these people are thinking. Am I sneezing? Sniffling? Coughing? NO! I feel GREAT. If I am actually exhausted, does your euphemism regarding my less than perfect appearance help? These have got to be the same people that ask ladies with bellies if they are pregnant or if I'm having a bad hair day. Morons.

As a natural redhead with red eyelashes, I instantly look 5 years younger without makeup. My undereye circles are almost purple, it looks like I have no lashes, and my face lack color in the right spots and spots red blotches in the wrong spots. I wear no makeup around my SO and strangers but for the first time around casual acquaintances you hit it band on the dot. Very frustrating from a female point of view. I usually wear makeup but it's annoying when the cashier checks and double checks my ID when I'm buying booze without makeup on. C'mon people!

I normally wear really heavy makeup. When I wear something like the "everyday" makeup people treat it like the "no makeup makeup" situation.

A few years ago I stayed at a hotel with a girl I went to high school with, and she was absolutely shocked when I emerged from the shower. She couldn't believe that's what I looked like without makeup.

Now her older brother and I are living together and he said it took him months to get used to seeing me without it. Said I look like a different person.

This is why I only wear makeup when I feel like putting effort in or when I'm bored. That way, people never get used to me looking good, so when I take the time to put on makeup I get "wow you look great!".

Lowering their standards for my benefit! Whoop!

Edit: I also meant to ask what are you wearing on your lips in the last frame? It's GORGEOUS.

This reminds me of a time I went to work without make up. In my whole seven months of working there I always had a full face of make up on. The day after my birthday party I was hungover and decided to go to work without make up on. Almost everyone that day commented to me "wow what happened to you?" "are you okay?" "you look like a trainwreck" were the type of comments thrown at me. I just smiled and said I'm not wearing make up!

You look great in all the photos. :) I have shit skin so when I don't wear make up I have to explain I have roseacia and I break out from makeup that I wear most of the time. My best friend in the whole wide world told me he likes me better that way because he can see that I have tons freckles under my rosy complexion. Rockin.

I know there's like 1000 comments on this already probably saying the same thing. But everytime I go to work with no makeup on, my boss or bosses continuously tell me sick I look or how sad or upset or pale or sometimes stoned? Only one manager can recognize that it's just me not wearing makeup.